166 Avenue of the Americas

Construction scaffolding has started to come down at the newly renovated and expanded headquarters of the charity God's Love We Deliver, which delivers meals to the sick and homebound. The charity's original two-story, brick building at Spring Street and Avenue of the Americas, on the fringes of the SoHo neighborhood, has been expanded into a six-story structure containing a volunteer lounge and terrace on the third floor setback and a rooftop garden. A rendering posted on the construction fence was not very promising aesthetically, but there was hope that the reality would prove more appealing. Unfortunately, with the recent reveal of the brick and metal facade, there has been no improvement over the rendering. A highly reflective metal facade, patterned by a pressed running bond, comes across like cheap cladding that completely disregards the fabric of the neighborhood's surrounding buildings. One Vandam, the new structure rising directly to the north, employs a limestone and glass curtain wall that proves to be a more successful strategy for introducing a contemporary facade into the historic SoHo neighborhood. Though we applaud the expansion of a charity with a wonderful mission like God's Love We Deliver, an opportunity has been lost to add to the architectural heritage of the neighborhood at such a prominent corner.

Southwest corner of 166 Avenue of the Americas (right) and One Vandam (left).

West facade of 166 Avenue of the Americas (right) and One Vandam (left)..